LUNACY; percy jackson

03.14

"Ah, Grover..."

He wiped under his eyes with an oily cloth that left his face grimy, like he had on war paint. "I'm...I'm okay."

But he wasn't okay. Ever since the encounter in New Mexico—whatever had happened when that wild wind blew through—he seemed really fragile, even more emotional than usual. Percy was afraid to talk to him about it, because he might start bawling.

At least there's one good thing about having a friend who gets freaked out more than you do. He realized he couldn't stay depressed. He had to set aside thinking about Bianca and keep them going forward, the way Thalia was doing. He wondered what she and Zoë were talking about in the front of the truck.

He turned his head slightly to glance back at Andromeda and Donnie who were sitting in the bucket of the truck. It was completely by choice, but Percy couldn't help but wonder whose idea it was. The redhead was leaning her head back to rest against the car, the wind blowing her fiery curls in every direction. Her eyes were closed and her arms were crossed over her chest. She looked at...peace? Maybe, he wasn't really sure and he had learned a while ago not to question anything Andromeda Storm does, otherwise you might wake up later with a broken nose or an insult written on your forehead in permanent marker.

Donnie, however, seemed stuck in his own head. He was twisting the rings on his fingers, and his eyes had this distant look in them, like he wasn't fully present or aware. Occasionally they would lighten up a little bit—albeit not much—and Percy wondered what...or who he was thinking about.

The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well, because the road dead-ended. Is that a word? Dead-ended?

Shut up brain, he thought.

Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. "Great. What now?"

Percy could hear Andromeda scoff, watching as she jumped out of the back of the truck and walked up to stand besides Thalia while Donnie mosied over towards Grover.

He scanned the horizon. There wasn't much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below them.

"There's a path," Grover said. "We could get to the river."

He tried to see what the satyr was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face. "That's a goat path," Percy deadpanned.

"So?" he asked.

"The rest of us aren't goats, Goat Boy." Donnie murmured, walking up to where the rest of them were standing.

"We can make it," Grover said. "I think."

"Oh," murmured Andromeda as she leaned her arm on Thalia's shoulder, the daughter of Zeus being shorter than her, "You're just a ray of sunshine, aren't you?"

Percy tried his best to think about that. He'd done cliffs before, but he didn't like them and he couldn't exactly keep his mind off of the fact that there was a weird romantic prophecy about him and Andromeda. Gods, this was such a weird day. Then he looked over at Thalia, who was leaning against the redhead now, and saw how pale she'd gotten. Her problem with heights...she'd never be able to do it.

"No," Percy said. "I, uh, think we should go farther upstream."

Grover said, "But—"

"Come on," the boy said. "A walk won't hurt us."